Along with pressurized gas tanks, sorption stores are increasingly being used nowadays for the storage of gases for stationary and mobile applications. Sorption stores generally comprise an adsorption medium with a large internal surface area, on which the gas is adsorbed and thereby stored. While a sorption store is being filled with gas, the adsorption causes the release of heat, which has to be removed from the store. By analogy, when gas is removed from the store, heat has to be supplied for the process of desorption. Therefore, thermal management is of great importance when designing sorption stores.
The patent application U.S. 2008/0168776 A1 describes a sorption store for hydrogen, which comprises an outer tank which is thermally insulated from the surroundings and arranged inside which are a number of pressure vessels, which comprise an adsorption medium. The intermediate spaces between the pressure vessels are filled with a cooling fluid, in order to allow the heat occurring during the adsorption to be removed.
The patent application DE 10 2007 058 673 A1 describes an apparatus for storing gaseous hydrocarbons, which comprises an insulated tank filled with an adsorption medium. Provided in the tank is a heating element, which is activated by means of a control system in such a way that, when gas is being removed, a minimum pressure is maintained for as long a time as possible.
One disadvantage of known sorption stores is that the filling with gas proceeds only slowly. In particular in the case of mobile applications, for example in motor vehicles, this disadvantage is particularly serious.